The present invention is related to providing a clothes washing machine having means for circulating water from the bottom of a basket to the top thereof under the action of an oscillating agitator.
A conventional clothes washing machine is configured, as shown in FIG. 6, to provide a water tank 2 which is provided in the inside of a body 1 and containing a predetermined volume of water needed for a washing cycle. A hydrating spinning basket 3 is housed in the tank 2 and has a pulsator 4. A power generating member 5 is provided beneath the tank 2 for transmitting the power to the dehydrating basket 3 or the pulsator 4.
The power generating member 5 comprises a motor 5a provided beneath the water tank 2, and a power transmitting element 5b for operating the basket 3 and the pulsator 4 by the power of the motor 5a.
Further, at a predetermined area of the inner wall of the basket 3 there is formed a water guide duct 3a for guiding the water upwardly from the pulsator 4. The water guide duct 3a comprises an inlet 3b provided at the lower end and receiving the water from the pulsator during the washing and the rinsing cycle, an outlet 3c provided at upper end for discharging water, and a filter 3d detachedly provided at the front of the outlet 3c for collecting lint contained in the discharged water through outlet 3c.
The typical conventional art is described in Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 80- 24066 (1980.2.20).
In the washing machine having the above structure, the pulsator 4 is oscillated by the power transmitted from the motor 5a, and thus the washing and the rinsing cycle are achieved.
As the rotating pulsator 4 acts as an impeller, part of the washing water is forcefully induced to the inlet 3b of the water guide duct 3a, and the water through the inlet 3b is discharged from the outlet 3c of the water guide duct 3a, which is circulated during the washing cycle.
While the process can be repeated during the predetermined programmed period, the washing step and the rinsing step are accomplished. The lint accompanying the water is discharged through the outlet 3c, and is collected by the filter 3d. While the washing machine has a fairly effective washing cycle, it has the following problems.
In both the washing and rinsing cycles, the oscillating pulsator 4 is causes the water to turn into a stream. Since the water tends to be directed to the inlet 3b of the water guide duct 3a which is formed as a single opening in the inner wall of the basket 3, a swirling effect of the water occurs particularly adjacent to the inlet 3b. The swirling of the water causes the clothes to become extremely twisted. Additionally, since the stream of water is concentrated adjacent to the single inlet, no effective circulation of the water can be achieved and not enough detergent can be dissolved which decreases the cleaning efficiency of the washer. Further, the undissolved detergent is drained with the drain water which results in a waste of detergent and water pollution.
Furthermore, above-described swirling generated by the rotation of the pulsator raises the clothes toward the upper central surface of the water, so the clothes are exposed above the water surface. When this occurs, the washing efficiency decreases.
In order to resolve these problems, one of the main objectives of the present invention is to provide a clothes washing machine having a plurality of passages from which most of the water pours down to the central portion of the dehydrating basket, forming a waterfall, so the clothes which rise above the water surface by the rotation of the pulsator are forced downward until fully immersed, thereby increasing the washing efficiency.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide each passage with a vortex chamber, in which the lint contained in the water is easily separated.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide each passage with vertically spaced water outlets generating different water heads, in which the clothes in the lower water head as well as the higher water head can be immersed, and the turbulence of the water can easy be developed.